Square and PayPal Q1 earnings expected to grow on PPP, stimulus, bitcoin

Fintech rivals PayPal Holdings (PYPL) and Square (SQ) report earnings this week, with both expected to benefit from the the government's latest round of stimulus payments that started going out in March.PayPal is scheduled to report Q1 earnings after the close on Wednesday, May 5, and Square is slated to report after the close on Thursday, May 6.BofA Securities analyst Jason Kupferberg expects Square to beat Q1 consensus as its Cash App gets a big boost from the March stimulus and the surge in bitcoin (BTC-USD) and its Seller ecosystem benefits from data shows strong spending in food & drink and retail. That sector accounts for ~46% of gross payment volume in the Seller segment.Square disclosed Cash App gross profit rates for January rose 164% and for the first three weeks of February increased 130%. "We estimate gross profit growth reaccelerated to 175% in March due to stimulus benefits, driving